Ruling Will Force Mulberry Mobile Home Park to Close

BARTOW | A circuit judge effectively closed Lakeside Manor Mobile Home Park in Mulberry on Tuesday, leaving residents in as many as 19 homes scrambling for a place to live.

By SUZIE SCHOTTELKOTTE THE LEDGER

BARTOW | A circuit judge effectively closed Lakeside Manor Mobile Home Park in Mulberry on Tuesday, leaving residents in as many as 19 homes scrambling for a place to live.

Circuit Judge Steven Selph granted the city's request to shut down the park's faulty sewer system, which code enforcement officers and environmental experts testified had the potential to pollute nearby waterways and the area's groundwater.

But Selph stopped short of issuing a deadline when Hutton House, the park's owners, has to shut the sewer system down. He's giving lawyers for the city and Hutton House time to work out options to assist residents who will need to relocate. At this time, the city provides water service to 19 mobile homes in the 28-acre park.

Arlene Raymond, who's lived in the park since 1982, wept quietly in the courtroom as the judge announced his decision.

"I was one of the original residents there," she said. "We were led to believe that this couldn't happen, that the city couldn't shut us down. I don't know what I'm going to do now. This has been home for 30 years."

No one from Hutton House LLC, a family company based in South Florida, attended Tuesday's trial. The city had waived a jury trial, leaving Selph to rule on the city's lawsuit.

Lakeland lawyer Frank Comparetto Jr., representing the city, argued the leaking sewer system had been failing for years, frequently overflowing raw sewage into the park and nearby areas. The park owns the sewer system, comprised of flow lines that ultimately connect with the city's wastewater treatment system.

The city's code enforcement board had cited Hutton House in August 2010, ordering the company to repair the system and imposing fines that accrued until the repairs were completed. Those fines exceed $300,000, city officials testified Tuesday.

The issue surfaced again in March 2012 when Bonnie Titus, Mulberry's code enforcement officer, discovered raw sewage flowing from the system. The city conducted a smoke test to identify leaks in the system, and smoke flowed from the ground throughout the park.

Adam Wood, an environmental specialist with the state Department of Environmental Protection, testified his examination of the system showed it poses both a public nuisance and a threat to public safety.

Kissimmee lawyer Joshua Westcott, representing Hutton House, maintained Tuesday that the aging sewer system didn't rise to the level of posing irreparable harm to the community, and therefore shouldn't be shut down. He said no one had complained about an illness that could be linked to the system's waste.

Selph disagreed.

"It's clear there is irreparable harm," he said.

Selph also ruled that Hutton House would have to pay any lawyers' fees that Comparetto charges to the city.